Back during the cold war, the Barents—shared uneasily by Russia and Norway—was best known as a home for the prized Arctic cod and for hide-and-seek games between American and Soviet submarines. Today it's set to become Europe's energy Klondike, a last untapped pool of natural resources. Beneath the seabed lies not only oil but enough natural gas to meet much of the continent's needs for decades. And it's Norway that's heading the exploration race, with a first field due to come on stream later this year. "This whole region is re-emerging as something new on the European radar screen," says Store. "We have to go out with our maps and explain what it's all about."

He can expect an enthusiastic audience with European leaders ever more anxious for access to fresh energy supplies from friendly neighbors. These days Russia ranks as Europe's principal source of natural gas, and evidence of the Kremlin's readiness to use its status for political leverage has become frequent, whether it's in pricing spats with Ukraine last winter or with Belarus last month. "What has changed is that Russia has begun using energy as a political tool," says Dmitry Kisilev of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Strategic Studies Center. "Europeans fear that they will be next."